Species: Syrian 

Gender: Female

Age/DOB: 7 weeks (DOB: Mid-April 2023)

Likes: Running, fresh veggies and peaceful energy.

Dislikes: Fast movements, chaos and bugs. 

Fosterer’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deep.space.ham9/ 

Possum is an intense girlie. It’s either 0 or 100 for her, no inbetween! Resembling the marsupial of the Americas, her silvery coat and cautious demeanour makes her a joy to observe. As she is still SO young, she is still figuring herself out and in turn, so is her fosterer. But so far, it’s safe to say she does NOT imitate her marsupial namesake in eating garbage. She does, however, occasionally lie on her back and play dead.

She is quite a timid girl, and definitely a hamster for the most determined and stubborn of “hamrents” because baby Possum will require a lot of love and patience to get her to come out of her shell. But in the meantime, it is recommended to handle her close to the ground or over a soft surface as she is extremely jumpy! PS: She is very intelligent and has potty trained herself all on her own!!!

Her current obsession is her connecting cardboard tunnels and seems to prefer hiding in it over any of her multitude of hideouts. While her future family need not buy special prefabricated tunnels, they should at the very least provide her with enough bedding for her to create her own tunnels! As the saying goes, “the more bedding, the happier the ham”. (There is absolutely no old saying that says that.)

Will YOU be the one to give this beautiful silver treasure a home?

*Requirements:

Cage: Min. 90x50x50cm

• Acrylic tank preferred

Wheel: Min. 27cm

Bedding: 

• Oxbow Pure Comfort 

• Currently using the natural brown colour as I have found in the past that the white and coloured varieties are very dusty.

• I also find it to be a great bedding for tunnelling when slightly pressed down.

• NOTE: it is important to manually crumble the compressed bedding when it is taken from the packaging while the hamster is NOT in the enclosure as this can create dust. Once this is done though, it will be fine for the hamster:). 

• Teabag Bedding

• Can be bought from FatPouches: https://fatpouches.com/products/presales-tea-bag-hypoallergenic-bedding 

• Adds nice texture to the bedding for her!

• OPTIONAL: Timothy hay to provide texture and structure for tunnelling mixed into the paper bedding, or to place inside hideouts as extra texture.

• Currently using Niteangel, but Oxbow and Kaytee are also ok.

• ALTERNATIVE: Can also use the Marukan brand of Aspen shavings.

• Optional: Shredded tissue paper for a pop of colour! 

• Currently using IKEA brand coloured paper napkins.

• Sanko Bath Sand (or any other HSS approved sand.)

• PLEASE NOTE: As she has potty trained herself, she will use her sand bath to pee in so you must either change it every other day OR regularly check for clumps and sift the sand.

• Sand bath size should be at least 14cm in diameter or length. 

• Currently using https://www.ikea.com/sg/en/p/ikea-365-food-container-round-glass-80359194/ in 400ml

Food: 

• Currently using FatPouches Standard Hamster Seed Mix

• I encourage you to also get a foraging mix from FatPouches such as the Foraging Seed Mix or Delight Mix! This can be sprinkled and lightly mixed into the bedding every few days. 

• Alternative foraging choices can simply be another brand of Syrian seed mix such as Rodipet brand to provide diversity in “healthy” feed/foraging.

• Fresh veggies, fruits and even boiled eggs! 

• At the moment, high protein treats and snacks are encouraged as she is still growing. 

Enrichment:

• At least 3 hideouts 

• Can be one large nesting area/chamber hideout and 2 smaller ceramic or cardboard hideouts.

• Trustie brand from PLC for the smaller ones is a good option.

• A main nesting area can be made by connecting 2 hideouts with one tunnel (EG: plain tunnel with middle hole, or T shaped tunnel)

• It is recommended she has at LEAST double her height of bedding to properly dig around in. 

• OPTIONAL: Non perishable treats and food hidden in bedding.

• OPTIONAL: A dig jar or box partially filled with coco peat and mixed with non-perishable (as in not too oily to attract ants) and dry treats and seeds, as well as some short stalks of sprays. 

• The FÖRVAR jar from IKEA is a good choice for this kind of enrichment activity!

• RAJTAN from IKEA is another alternative. 

• As long as the jar or container is slightly tilted or easy for her to get in and out of it should be fine.